The Ministry of Defence intends to award GE Energy Power Conversion UK Limited a five-year contract worth £590,689 excluding VAT to deliver technical training on the 690V switchboards and frequency converters fitted to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s Tide-class tankers, the department stated in a contract award notice.
The notice, identifier 2026/S 000-074582, was published on 6 August 2026 and records an award decision date of 5 August, with the contract yet to be signed. Including VAT, the value rises to £708,826.
The earliest date signature can take place is 26 August 2026, and estimated contract dates run from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2031.
According to the notice, the Tide-class electrical power and propulsion system is a complex system of systems covering power generation, distribution and conversion machinery, and RFA systems engineers must be suitably qualified and experienced to carry out onboard maintenance and fault diagnosis on it. The department describes that requirement as a principle underpinning platform availability and operational capability. The courses are to provide twelve training places a year for Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel.
Work is classified under the common procurement vocabulary code for technical training services. The contracting authority is the Ministry of Defence, with the requirement run from Navy Command Headquarters at HMS Excellent on Whale Island in Portsmouth.
GE Energy Power Conversion UK Limited is based at Thomson Houston Way in Rugby, Warwickshire, and is not recorded in the notice as a small or medium-sized enterprise. The company supplied the electrical propulsion and power distribution equipment for the Tide class, including the induction motors, drives and switchboards that sit at the heart of the ships’ diesel-electric arrangement.
The four Tide-class tankers, RFA Tidespring, RFA Tiderace, RFA Tidesurge and RFA Tideforce, were ordered under the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability programme and built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering at Okpo in South Korea. Each displaces around 39,000 tonnes at full load, making them the largest vessels in the RFA fleet, and each was fitted out with military-specific equipment by A&P Group at Falmouth following delivery to the United Kingdom. The first of class arrived in 2017, with the fourth accepted in 2019.
The vessels provide fuel, fresh water and limited dry stores to Royal Navy warships at sea and have supported carrier strike deployments, including operations alongside HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. Their diesel-electric propulsion arrangement drives two shafts through electric motors, with power drawn from generator sets feeding the high-voltage distribution system covered by the training contract.
Contract award notices of this type are published under the Procurement Act 2023 after an award decision has been taken but before signature, and they start a standstill period of at least eight working days where one applies.
